Meeting participant Maymay talked about patterns he has found in researching how oppression is carried out. Examining many different revolutionary and cultural struggles has shown a tactical pattern used over and over again by repressive governments and other dominant groups. The dominant group is not a majority but they work to keep the rest of society from uniting against them. The tactics they use, time and again, are :
Divide & Conquer – Infiltrators often provoke infighting, divisiveness, and discord within communities as part of their efforts to derail the momentum of revolutionary movements.
Obscure & Homogenize – The state uses and encourages artificial categorization to obscure the diverse and infinitely subtle possibilities of human existence. The media divides the organic spectrum of the population into segments, and within each segment creates an archetype or sketched-in models of how we are all supposed to be. These manufactured ideal images create hurdles within communities for members who do not fit the idealized definition.
(Further Reading - http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2010/07/26/a-big-little-idea-called-legibility/)

File history

Meeting participant Maymay talked about patterns he has found in researching how oppression is carried out. Examining many different revolutionary and cultural struggles has shown a tactical pattern used over and over again by repressive governments and